When lantern users need light on a boat, at a campsite, etc., they often have difficulty finding a place to put the lantern where it will be secure, both for lighting purposes and safety purposes. Free swinging hook designs and improvised holders put the lantern at the mercy of outside elements such as wind or possible human or animal clumsiness, and clamp systems are unstable. The random availability of the specific attachment objects needed to use other devices and the lack of versatility of such devices can be inconvenient or unreliable. Also, a consumer may not own or be able to find the specific type of lantern or the specific object required to use a particular device.
Current lantern supporting devices secure permanently or semi-permanently to specific objects and rely on free swinging hook or clamp systems to secure a lantern. Some are designed to only allow the user to secure a specific type of lantern. Lantern users without access to a holder must rely on potentially unstable or non-level surfaces such as a tree limb or the ground.